Ex-Girlfriend – Chapter 25
by Little PandaBreaking the Cage
Escape 25
Legal Hunting
Xin Lan seemed to have hit a dead end. Why “seemed”? Because on the surface, that was exactly what it looked like.
A straight corridor stretched out, its end fully in view, lined on both sides by black doors.
The space was cramped and narrow, making one feel as if they were stuffed inside something, suffocating.
The moment she found herself trapped, she didn’t move. She simply waited for the System in her mind to reply, though she figured it would probably be useless.
In the system space, Zero Nine hung her head in shame. Her abilities were too restricted in this world; much like a compass going haywire during a supernatural event, she had failed to scan anything outside of this space again.
Xin Lan didn’t react much upon hearing this. It was as expected.
She didn’t rashly open those doors, staring thoughtfully at the wall instead.
Zero Nine: “Host, what are you thinking?”
The solemnity on Xin Lan’s face faded. She patted the wall with a touch of regret.
Xin Lan: “If my strength were fully here, I’d definitely choose to break through the wall and walk out.”
But the mission world didn’t allow her to do something like shattering a wall with a single punch, unless she was in some sort of power-based world.
Truly a pity.
Zero Nine fell silent. This method was indeed simple, crude, and overly realistic.
Although Xin Lan said she wouldn’t consider it, she still went over and kicked the wall. With her foot, of course, not her hand.
But the moment she kicked it, she felt a sense of familiarity. It felt exactly like stepping on the human skin ghost in the punishment game.
Touching it with her hand earlier hadn’t made her notice; it had seemed solid to the touch. But after kicking it a few times, it felt like stepping on a doll’s skin—sinking slightly, yet not overly soft.
Kicking through it was impossible, so Xin Lan pulled a folding knife out of her pocket.
Meanwhile, Shen Shuiyan was confronting Annai.
She held a blade to Annai’s head, threatening her. A short distance away, lying in a straight line, was Annai’s body. Xu Deng stood beside her, her eyes darting warily between the two.
Threatened by Shen Shuiyan with having her tongue cut and her face slashed, Annai kept her mouth tightly shut.
“Let her out.”
Shen Shuiyan pressed the blade closer to Annai’s lips. Annai’s lips twitched.
In the next instant, her body lunged over. Seeing this, Xu Deng knocked it aside, and both of them tumbled to the ground.
Just looking at that headless torso made Xu Deng feel a bit dizzy; seeing it up close was really a bit too intense.
She wanted to scramble up, but the torso moved even faster, aiming to attack Shen Shuiyan again.
Seeing this, Xu Deng grabbed the torso’s foot and was dragged several steps by its great strength, sliding a few meters across the floor.
Enduring the pain, she grabbed a blade and stabbed the torso hard.
Annai’s torso paused at this action. Seeing this, Xu Deng pounced back, pinning it beneath her, wrapping her limbs around it to keep it from moving no matter what.
Annai glared in fury—her head was held fast, and her body was pinned down.
Though Annai couldn’t move, she could still manipulate levitating objects. Steel bars from the seats in the spectator stands were ripped out, flying toward Shen Shuiyan and crashing toward the hand holding the blade.
Shen Shuiyan quickly blocked them, her other hand still firmly gripping Annai’s hair.
The blade was double-edged. Shen Shuiyan didn’t let go of the blade while blocking, and it sliced her hand, fresh red blood dripping down her palm.
Shen Shuiyan frowned, but she still didn’t let go, brutally shoving the point of the blade into Annai’s mouth.
“If you still don’t let her out, I really will slice it, making you a mute thing that can’t speak, just like the real Annai.”
Shen Shuiyan couldn’t worry about anything else. The little tiger was incredibly powerful, yes, but there was no telling where she was right now; her heart was in a frantic knot.
Annai spat out a string of slurred words. Shen Shuiyan barely understood her meaning, pulling the blade out of her mouth and pressing it against her cheek.
Shen Shuiyan waited for Annai’s action, only to see Annai’s expression suddenly contort as she let out a scream.
She looked at Xu Deng, and Xu Deng looked back at her.
The two of them looked at each other, their expressions slightly dazed.
Shen Shuiyan knew Annai’s scream had nothing to do with Xu Deng. The head in her arms began to struggle again, so Shen Shuiyan threw the blade aside, needing to use all her strength just to ensure that Annai’s suddenly crazed head wouldn’t fly away.
The torso pinned beneath Xu Deng was also thrashing constantly, nearly flipping her off.
Annai’s screams echoed in their ears one after another, incredibly eerie and terrifying.
Inside the wall, Xin Lan discovered some interesting things. She wasn’t in a hurry to slice the wall now, looking at the doors instead.
If she wasn’t mistaken, this place was actually Annai’s body, and each door probably represented an organ.
Xin Lan searched for the heart. After successively entering the liver and the stomach, she finally found the location of the heart.
The room was filled with intersecting blood vessels, with a beating heart right in the center.
In the middle of the heart was a doll with round eyes and a pretty face—exactly the Annai she was looking for.
Xin Lan opened her folding knife and cut the blood vessels blocking her.
Suddenly, a tremor shook the area. Xin Lan steadied her body and continued cutting the blood vessels ahead.
Annai felt the pain and screamed, but what panicked her even more was something else. She wanted to merge back together to have her full power, but those two had been holding her back.
Get out of her body quickly!
Xin Lan felt the place shaking even more violently, and a massive suction force came from the doorway, trying to suck her out.
Xin Lan’s hand gripped a nearby blood vessel that could steady her body; barely ten centimeters away was a beating heart.
The blood vessels that had just been cut lay scattered to the side without any trace of blood, looking like nothing more than damaged tubes. Xin Lan’s other hand was still cutting the vessels wrapped around the heart where Annai was, trying her best to resist the suction from outside the door.
The Miss Annai outside probably didn’t know an old saying: inviting a deity is easy, but sending them away is hard1.
After about a minute, Xin Lan got the doll in her hand; at the same time, she was uncontrollably ejected from the space.
The moment she was ejected, she wondered how Shen Shuiyan was doing.
Outside, Shen Shuiyan watched the changes in the head in her hands with some astonishment, but she quickly realized this change couldn’t be for no reason—it had to be the work of the little tiger, who had been taken somewhere by this thing.
The head in her hand gradually lost its original beauty, her skin turning a dark, bruised greenish-black. Her eyes grew narrow and long, and her lips were dark; in appearance, she looked somewhat like some mutated animal.
Her facial features changed all at once, and Shen Shuiyan instinctively felt that holding onto her would no longer serve as a threat.
The head let out a shrill cry, a long, thin tongue snaking out from those dark lips, licking toward Shen Shuiyan. Shen Shuiyan threw the head away immediately.
“Xu Deng, get up!”
Xu Deng scrambled to her feet, no longer pinning the torso, which had also deformed.
The female body, which had originally possessed wheat-colored skin, had turned the same dark greenish-black as the head. Strange appendages had grown from it, making it look hideous and bizarre.
This was probably what the dolls meant by a terrifying monster.
Xin Lan was still a bit dizzy when she was ejected. Seeing her sudden appearance, Shen Shuiyan rushed over to support her.
Xin Lan held Annai in her hand, the doll covered in red bloodstains, its round eyes open wide, its mouth agape but unable to make a sound.
It looked incredibly dull and decayed. Even though it was an inanimate object, it shouldn’t have looked so entirely lifeless.
The very instant the monster’s head and body broke free of Shen Shuiyan and Xu Deng, they had already joined back together.
She was about 1.8 meters tall, while Xin Lan was only 1.76 meters. Xin Lan stood a short distance away, watching her warily.
“Give it to me.”
The monster’s voice hadn’t changed much—it was still that female rocker’s voice, only deeper and raspier.
“You two get out first.”
Xin Lan had no time to waste, signaling her two teammates to get out first.
Shen Shuiyan hesitated for a moment. The instant she met Xin Lan’s gaze, she clenched her fists. Before leaving through the portal of light, she scooped up Xin Lan’s jacket from a seat, and the moment her figure vanished, Xu Deng followed right behind.
The monster didn’t care about them, her narrow eyes fixed tightly on Xin Lan, or rather, the Annai in Xin Lan’s hand.
When Xin Lan wanted to head toward the portal of light, the place she was in shook violently.
“Give it to me!”
The monster approached step by step. Xin Lan held the doll and waved it at her—an act that was nothing short of a provocation. The monster lunged violently.
Xin Lan bent down to dodge. When the monster’s sharp claws thrust forward, she used the doll as a shield without a single qualm, holding it in front of herself. At the sight, the monster hastily stopped her claws.
The Annai in front of her seemed to have been frightened, woodenly shedding tears.
Xin Lan felt the moisture on her fingers and found it rather magical. Still, since dolls could talk, it wasn’t that surprising that they could shed tears of unknown origin.
“You frightened it!”
The monster stopped, looking at Annai with greedy, yearning eyes while scolding Xin Lan.
Xin Lan found the monster’s behavior amusing and wiped away the doll’s tears.
“Annai, why don’t you stay with me? I’ll accompany you, and we’ll sing and dance together and become big stars. How wonderful would that be? You’re so beautiful, and my singing sounds so good.”
The monster was no longer manic, but spoke to the Annai in Xin Lan’s hand in an ingratiating, placating tone.
But she didn’t know that Annai’s staying or leaving didn’t depend on Annai herself, but on Xin Lan.
“Annai was always bullied but only knew how to cry, Annai was beautiful so she was envied, Annai’s throat was ruined by everyone, everyone said Annai was a bad child who must be punished, Annai thought of escaping and one day it succeeded, where did it go, where did it go, it’s in my heart.”
The monster sang this song, looking at little Annai with pitying eyes.
“You’re also one of those who bullied it, aren’t you? You imprisoned its freedom and stole its appearance.”
Xin Lan had no intention of reasoning with her; she was just using this to distract the monster’s attention.
For Annai, both sides were hell. Though clearly a doll, it had lived a human-like existence.
Xin Lan didn’t listen to whatever the monster was saying. As she kept backing away, she picked up a random object.
“Forget it. I only came in to see how Annai was doing anyway. I think you’re right; rather than letting Annai be bullied over there, it’s better for it to stay with you. Here, take it.”
After saying this, Xin Lan tossed the object in her hand in the opposite direction.
The monster lunged over, only to find it was just a light fixture. She quickly reacted, but Xin Lan was faster, having already touched the light portal and departed in the first instant.
Though Xin Lan was battle-hungry, she knew how to read the situation. This was clearly not the time for a fight; it was better to exit early.
After Xin Lan came out, the dolls that originally had no life suddenly seemed to ‘come alive’.
“The bad child is back!”
“It didn’t get eaten by the monster!”
“Punish it! Punish it!”
“Gouge out its eyes!”
The dolls chimed in one after another, all of them speaking in voices full of innocent childishness, yet the meaning they conveyed carried such obvious malice.
“Annai always said no but loved to cry, Annai was beautiful but loved to be jealous, Annai’s eyes are so round I want to gouge them out, I’m so glad Annai can’t speak anymore, Annai clamored to leave and one day it disappeared, where did it go, where did it go, the bad child Annai is back.”
The dolls spoke in unison, their identical smiles carrying a chilling air. Their pure, clean voices were saturated with malice.
Annai cried again, tears falling drop by drop onto Xin Lan’s hand.
Shen Shuiyan saw its eyes, thinking that if Annai could speak, it would surely have so much to say.
“You should come out now. We found Annai.”
Xin Lan spoke to the empty air, looking at the hourglass—it hadn’t finished running out yet.
Annai was lifted up by an unknown force. Xin Lan let go, watching Annai float in mid-air.
Annai remained silent, but its tears stopped flowing.
“I actually didn’t know my little Annai was bullied so terribly.”
When that voice echoed in the air, all the dolls seemed to have their necks choked, unable to make any sound at all.
The tear tracks on Annai’s face were wiped away by an invisible hand, and all the dolls trembled in terror.
“Thirty clue fragments for you. Congratulations on completing the game.”
When the voice disappeared, Xin Lan and the others reappeared on the stairs.
“We’re finally back.”
Looking at the school corridor, Xu Deng suddenly felt a great sense of warmth.
Shen Shuiyan also breathed a sigh of relief. Only after going through a succession of events did she feel the campus was more agreeable.
Xin Lan felt her pocket and touched a small pouch. She pulled it out and found it was packed with fragments.
“Can we get out very soon?”
Xu Deng’s eyes shone with a light of anticipation.
“Soon. Tomorrow, or the day after at the latest.”
Xin Lan put the small pouch back into her pocket, speaking thus.
“Let’s go back to the dormitory building.”
After speaking, Xin Lan instinctively went to hold Shen Shuiyan’s hand, but found that Shen Shuiyan’s hand flinched slightly, and the sensation in her palm felt wrong too.
“What’s wrong with your hand?”
Xin Lan frowned, letting go of her hand and taking hold of Shen Shuiyan’s wrist. Spreading her palm under the light, she saw a long wound stretching across Shen Shuiyan’s palm.
“It’s fine, I accidentally cut it earlier.”
Shen Shuiyan shook her head. In the end, the little tiger had relied on herself to get out, and she hadn’t been of any help at all.
Under the dim light, a trace of gloom flashed in Shen Shuiyan’s eyes. She let Xin Lan frown and look at her palm; seeing those few hints of worry on her face, she actually felt a touch of pleasure.
“Was it that monster? If I’d known she hurt you, I would have kicked her a couple of times before coming out.”
Xin Lan was dead serious, feeling like they’d lost out on this deal.
Shen Shuiyan was amused by her, her other hand gently patting the hand Xin Lan was using to hold her wrist.
“Let’s go back.”
Xu Deng had long been used to this situation of a trio when there was work, but a duo when there wasn’t. As Xin Lan walked, she followed behind.
After Xin Lan pulled Shen Shuiyan back to the dormitory, she had Zero Nine look for any medicine that could prevent wound inflammation.
In the end, she actually found some in Xiao Chun’s drawer—there was a wound healing spray inside.
Speaking of which, Xin Lan and the others hadn’t seen Xiao Chun all day today.
Perhaps something has already happened to her.
Shen Shuiyan obediently held out her hand, letting Xin Lan spray the medicine on it.
When the spray touched the wound, she couldn’t help but frown, but she didn’t make a sound, watching the girl whose features were so focused under the light.
She really is gentle, Shen Shuiyan thought.
And that gentleness was hidden beneath a fierce, beautiful exterior; unless she herself was willing, few could ever catch a glimpse of it.
Though a rose has thorns, when held in one’s palm, its petals are delicate, soft, and richly fragrant.
Using a rose to describe Xin Lan might be insufficient to portray even a thousandth of her beauty, nor could it depict her dangerous allure.
A rose is brilliant, yet also delicate, tempting people to pluck it. But Xin Lan isn’t.
She was the king of the forest, her every move carrying a leisurely grace and composure. When she unleashed her presence, some would shrink back in awe.
She would bare her claws and show her sharp teeth, so no one would ever think of what a cute expression this beast would make if one gently scratched her chin.
Shen Shuiyan was fortunate enough to touch her gentleness; looking at Xin Lan under the white light, her own eyes were as deep as a bottomless lake.
Having finished spraying Shen Shuiyan’s hand, Xin Lan looked up and saw Shen Shuiyan lost in thought, staring at her in a daze.
“Snap out of it.”
Xin Lan waved her hand.
Shen Shuiyan blinked, returning to her usual self.
“What were you thinking about just now to be so absorbed?”
“I was just spacing out for a bit.”
“Are we still going out now?”
There were still three hours until twelve o’clock; there was plenty of time.
“Xu Deng and I will go out. You wait here, and lock the door well.”
Xin Lan was thinking of the wound on Shen Shuiyan’s hand; even if she helped, it would be inconvenient.
Hearing this, Shen Shuiyan’s originally bright mood instantly turned gloomy.
Just a moment ago she was thinking that getting hurt wasn’t bad since the little tiger was so tense, yet in the next second she’d turned into a burden.
Shen Shuiyan also knew the priorities. Although she really wanted to follow them, she still obediently nodded in agreement.
Xin Lan took out all the fragments from her pocket and placed them in front of Shen Shuiyan.
“Aren’t you afraid I’ll run away with all your assets?”
Shen Shuiyan joked.
“There’s also a share of yours in here. Besides, you’re already my person—even if you want to run, where could you go?”
Xin Lan lifted her chin, and the moment she turned around, she didn’t see the light in Shen Shuiyan’s eyes.
The moment Shen Shuiyan heard that phrase ‘my person,’ her heart skipped a beat, and her recently depressed mood instantly cleared up.
Xu Deng pushed up her glasses, always feeling like there was something wrong with this atmosphere.
In the system space, Zero Nine rubbed her cowlick, also feeling like something was off.
Xin Lan closed the door, and Shen Shuiyan locked it, staring ahead as if in a daze.
Xin Lan walked outside. Xu Deng didn’t stand beside her but followed behind. Xin Lan carried her own background music, walking with a wind about her; Xu Deng felt she couldn’t handle being right next to her, so she felt much safer trailing behind.
Today was different from yesterday. Yesterday was a free-for-all, but today everyone had quieted down, keeping their room doors tightly shut.
As Xin Lan walked down the corridor, the doors were either wide open with no one inside, or tightly shut. She tried pushing, but they wouldn’t budge.
“Is it because there are too few people left, so everyone is hiding?”
Xu Deng guessed. When they ate this afternoon, the people in the cafeteria were already pitifully sparse.
At the time, there were probably only about fifty people in the cafeteria, excluding those she hadn’t seen.
Then divide them by gender, and distribute them across five floors.
Originally, there should have been more people, but during this afternoon’s PE class, twelve people from each class had to die. With ten classes, that meant one hundred and twenty people died this single afternoon.
Aside from the first two, all the others were killed by their own classmates.
Suddenly, a chill ran down Xu Deng’s spine. This matter couldn’t be thought about too deeply; the more she thought, the more terrifying it became.
“They won’t all hide.”
Xin Lan said with absolute confidence.
Prey will hide, but hunters won’t.
There must be others like her, roaming the campus, waiting to make a catch.
And Xin Lan wasn’t afraid of being ganged up on. Everyone was a pile of loose sand, each on guard against the other.
Xin Lan suddenly thought of something and walked back.
She arrived at the dormitory room next to her own. Xu Deng instantly recalled the pool of blood and the several dead bodies lying on the floor that she’d seen that day.
There seemed to be some ruthless characters inside. Xu Deng’s heart tightened slightly, but the moment she looked at Xin Lan, her heart settled back down.
Xin Lan tried pushing it. Great, it didn’t open.
Zero Nine: “Two living entities.”
Xin Lan knocked on the door twice, being very polite.
Unless it was necessary, Xin Lan usually preferred to be polite before resorting to force.
Seeing that no one answered, Xin Lan knocked twice more.
Alright, the pleasantries are over. Time for force.
Xin Lan backed up a few steps and began kicking the door with technique.
With a loud thud, Xu Deng instinctively flinched.
The lock was knocked a bit loose. Xin Lan observed the state of the lock and continued kicking the door.
The quality of the dormitory door wasn’t very good; it was a wooden door, which made it convenient for Xin Lan to kick. If it were an iron door, she would have chosen to climb the balcony for a surprise attack.
The door was kicked open, revealing two girls inside.
Xin Lan still remembered their looks. That day, the one holding the knife was a short girl, and the face of the one she was shielding in her arms couldn’t be seen clearly, but it was probably the one standing next to her now.
The short girl was very nervous; the hand holding the knife seemed steady, but Xin Lan could feel her trembling slightly.
Afraid? Perhaps.
As Xin Lan walked closer, the girl holding the knife brandished it in the air a few times.
“Don’t come closer, or I’ll strike.”
Xin Lan stopped. The girl breathed a sigh of relief, but in the next moment, her eyes went wide. A sharp pain shot through her wrist, and the knife was kicked flying.
In just those few seconds, Xin Lan had executed a cool spin kick and pulled her foot back.
Xu Deng hurriedly picked up the knife and held it in her hand, standing sideways to watch the outside of the door while keeping an eye on the inside.
Seeing her weapon gone, the slightly shorter girl’s heart leaped into her throat, yet she looked even calmer on the surface.
The slightly taller, delicate-looking girl beside her had kept a cold face from beginning to end. The two of them held hands tightly, appearing to have a very good relationship.
“You know why I’ve come. Hand them over.”
Xin Lan moved her wrists. She remembered that several people had fallen here; these two girls should have quite a few on them.
Xin Lan’s meaning was very clear—if they didn’t give them up, she’d rob them. Her hands were already warming up, ready to fight at any moment.
Behind her, Xu Deng held the knife and gestured along twice. Although her glasses were broken and she looked a bit funny, her cold, solemn expression was still very intimidating.
“Why should we give them to you just because you want them? Do you think we’re easy targets?” the short girl said, looking full of momentum. But immediately, her expression collapsed, and she showed a highly amicable smile. “But hey, everything can be discussed. How about we team up? Your team isn’t full yet, is it? We’re all classmates, and with no old or recent enmity, why don’t we get out together?”
This classmate performed the transition from face-changing to sudden cowardice to the absolute extreme, and very cleverly began to negotiate.
The girl beside her gave her a helpless look, her expression as she looked at Xin Lan also carrying a sliver of pleading.
“How many do you have?”
“Six.”
Xin Lan rubbed her chin and nodded.
“Fine, that’s fine. But once you become my teammates, don’t think about pulling any stunts. Otherwise, even if you swallow the clue fragments, I can cut open your stomach to take them out.”
Xin Lan had a warm smile on her face, yet she was delivering an utterly ruthless threat.
“I’m Qi Xiao, and she’s Zhou Chun.”
“Xin Lan, Xu Deng.”
Xin Lan pointed to herself, then to Xu Deng.
With this, they could be considered acquainted and teamed up.
Though they were a team now, Qi Xiao and Zhou Chun still kept a certain distance when following behind Xin Lan.
Xu Deng walked side by side with them, observing the two out of the corner of her eye.
She, Xin Lan, and Shen Shuiyan could be considered to have a life-and-death bond; after all, they had gone through the floating stairs and the Doll World together. Xu Deng consciously kept an eye on the new girls in the team.
With Zero Nine scanning ahead, Xin Lan could accurately know which rooms had people and which didn’t.
She had Xu Deng and the others go push the doors, while she herself walked toward the places that definitely had people.
Xin Lan kicked down dozens of doors that night, obtaining many spoils.
Her actions were crisp and neat, with absolutely no hesitation.
Xu Deng, Qi Xiao, and the others had originally wanted to step forward to help, but seeing Xin Lan kick one person flying, knock another out with a desk lamp, and then execute a shoulder throw to brutally slam a third unconscious against a wardrobe, taking care of three people in a single minute, they silently withdrew.
Qi Xiao and Zhou Chun had originally planned to stay on guard against Xin Lan to avoid having their fragments taken and then being killed or abandoned. After all, their classmates had all gone mad; who could guarantee she wouldn’t do the same? But after seeing Xin Lan’s combat strength, they decided to be sensible.
With just the two of them, and not even a weapon, they probably weren’t even enough for Xin Lan to warm up on.
Xin Lan had great stamina, and most of the girls were weak. What’s more, she defeated them one by one, quickly sweeping the girls’ dormitory and obtaining the fragments of everyone there.
Xin Lan wasn’t so psychotic as to kill all the girls; she merely knocked them out, hitting them so hard they wouldn’t wake up for a full day. Then she had Xu Deng and the others bind them tightly with ropes, straps, or whatever else they could find, tying dead knots. Finally, they stuffed cloth into their mouths to prevent them from screaming and causing a racket upon waking—it looked exactly like a kidnapping scene.
Even with how quickly Xin Lan and the others worked, a full hour had slipped by.
Xin Lan returned to the dormitory. Seeing two more people following behind Xu Deng, Shen Shuiyan narrowed her eyes, finding them in her memories.
“Teammates,” Xin Lan spoke thus.
Shen Shuiyan nodded. After confirming that Xin Lan was fine, she gave Qi Xiao and her partner a faint smile.
Xin Lan sat down on a chair and crossed her legs.
Shen Shuiyan handed her some water. Xin Lan wasn’t polite, gulping down several mouthfuls and letting out a long breath.
“A bumper harvest.”
With a smile in her eyes, Xin Lan pulled all her spoils out of her pocket and handed them to Shen Shuiyan. The sheer quantity allowed Shen Shuiyan to make a guess.
“Everyone in this entire dormitory building?”
“Right.”
“Did you get hurt anywhere?”
“My feet hurt.”
Xin Lan thought for a moment, wiggling her feet.
“What, are they hurt?” Shen Shuiyan grew anxious at once.
“From kicking the doors,” Xin Lan pulled back her extended feet. “Fortunately they were wooden doors, otherwise they would have been so hard to kick.”
Looking at the little tiger’s grumbling face, Shen Shuiyan was both amused and helpless.
“Are those two always like this?” Qi Xiao whispered to Xu Deng beside her.
Xu Deng nodded, calmly pushing up her slightly slipping glasses.
“You’ll get used to it.”
This kind of atmosphere where they act as if no one else is around, talking as if the people next to them don’t exist—you get used to it.
A trio when there was work—oh, wait, a quintet now—and a duo when there wasn’t.
She often felt completely out of place.
Xu Deng was a bit happy to have teammates join her in feeling out of place, but she soon discovered that these two were also like conjoined twins.
It was supposed to be double the happiness, yet she was still left as a single lonely soul.
Xin Lan took off her sweater, wearing a white thermal undershirt underneath, and shook her collar.
“Hot?”
“Yeah, worked up a sweat. I plan to take a shower and get a good night’s sleep. Are you going?”
“Going.”
Of course she would go.
Shen Shuiyan also felt she had run around for a long time today. Although she wasn’t sweating now, she felt sticky. More importantly, since Xin Lan was going to wash up and smell all nice and fragrant, was she really going to lie in the same blanket smelling smelly? She would be too embarrassed to put her hand on Xin Lan tonight.
Xin Lan didn’t ask if the others were going, only saying that she had temporarily settled things in the building, and she didn’t know if anyone else would come in later; those who wanted to wash should just wash.
After Xin Lan spoke, her three teammates all planned to wash. After all, they were girls who loved cleanliness, and they wouldn’t miss an opportunity to shower safely.
Qi Xiao and Zhou Chun went back to their neighboring room to fetch their things. Xu Deng had brought a few changes of close-fitting clothes earlier; since it was winter, there was no need to change her outer clothes anyway, so she didn’t head back to her original dormitory alone. Even though those people were likely unconscious, just imagining that scene made her skin crawl, which was a bit creepy.
Qi Xiao and Zhou Chun very naturally entered one bathroom, Xu Deng entered the one next to them, Xin Lan was already in the first one early on, and Shen Shuiyan was right next to her.
Although she really wanted to shower together, there was no good excuse. If it were a dangerous situation, she could say it was safer to shower together, but under these circumstances, she was too embarrassed to squeeze in and wash together, otherwise she’d be looked at by Xin Lan with a very strange expression, right?
Xin Lan washed her hair and bathed quickly, using a hair dryer to blow her hair half dry first. Afterward, she didn’t leave either, instead leaning against the side to wait for her teammates.
Although they weren’t afraid when entering together, standing here alone blowing with a hair dryer and unable to hear any movement behind would still be quite frightening, right?
Shen Shuiyan was the second to come out, and seeing Xin Lan’s posture as she leaned there waiting, she showed a smile.
What should she do? This gentle, reliable feeling made her feel so comfortable—so comfortable that she wanted to go over and vigorously ruffle the little tiger’s head, then bury her head to take a deep sniff.
Shen Shuiyan only dared to think about it like this; now was simply not a good time.
She thought that maybe she’d have to wait until they got out and became even more familiar before they could make such intimate gestures.
After the remaining four girls were all finished, the five of them returned to the dormitory like primary school children walking in a pack, locking the door tight.
Xin Lan and Shen Shuiyan shared one blanket, Qi Xiao and Zhou Chun shared another, and Xu Deng silently climbed onto her bed alone, shivering slightly in the winter chill.
The bell rang, announcing the end of a hunt.
By then, Xin Lan was already sleeping sweetly, and Shen Shuiyan was only awake for a little while before holding Xin Lan and drifting back into sweet dreams.
Though this game was cruel, it was at least gentle to the players in some aspects, at least letting them get a good sleep and not suffer the torment of hunger.
Perhaps this is the benefit of being a ‘student’.
The next morning, Shen Shuiyan’s alarm rang; she reached out to slide it off, rubbed her eyes, and yawned.
She gazed at Xin Lan’s sleeping face close at hand, thinking her skin was so good and must feel very comfortable to touch.
Come to think of it, although she had held her waist, she had never touched her face. When awake, she had no good excuse or reason, and when sleeping, she didn’t dare touch her, fearing she’d wake Xin Lan up and make her very angry.
Xin Lan also opened her eyes, finding herself very close to Shen Shuiyan.
She got up naturally, running her fingers through her messy long hair a few times, and climbed over Shen Shuiyan to get out of bed.
Shen Shuiyan caught the fragrant breeze as she passed, dazed for a moment.
As she put on her clothes in bed, she happened to turn her head and saw Qi Xiao kiss Zhou Chun on the cheek. The two childishly began pinching each other’s faces, looking exceptionally close.
For a moment, Shen Shuiyan felt a flash of resentment; she also really wanted to kiss Xin Lan’s face and pinch faces with her.
Xin Lan, who was putting on her clothes and shoes, didn’t know her companion’s inner grumblings, waiting for everyone to go eat breakfast together after washing up.
The dormitory building was practically dead silent. Some people were still unconscious in their rooms; some might have already woken up, but were suffering from having their hands bound and their mouths stuffed.
Xin Lan and her group began their discussion. Shen Shuiyan took out all the clue fragments and counted them one by one; there were actually over eighty pieces, and with Qi Xiao and Zhou Chun’s, there were over ninety.
Qi Xiao and Zhou Chun watched them piece the puzzle together in silence, shouting in their minds that they’d made a massive profit this time.
Qi Xiao winked and made faces at Zhou Chun, gesturing how clever her actions yesterday had been. Zhou Chun smiled and nodded, pinching Qi Xiao’s nose. Their interactions were incredibly intimate; since the puzzle didn’t require them and they knew they could leave soon, their faces were filled with relaxation and joy.
Xu Deng, who watched the whole thing from the side, and Shen Shuiyan, who happened to look up, suddenly felt their stomachs twist a bit. Why did it feel so weirdly greasy?
Shen Shuiyan felt like something was off, yet nothing seemed wrong, so she lowered her head again and continued diligently working on the puzzle with Xin Lan.
If Xin Lan had looked up, she would have instantly understood what kind of scene this was.
A classic sweet scene between two Betas, or a Beta and an Omega.
The eighty-odd fragments pieced together to form a map.
Some parts were still incomplete, but it didn’t hinder them.
“Can we leave now?”
Qi Xiao was rather excited, but Xin Lan and Shen Shuiyan exchanged a glance.
They still had some things left unfinished.
Xu Deng, who roughly knew their plan, also fell silent. Although she desperately wanted to leave this place immediately, she hadn’t forgotten who had made their escape so smooth.
“I’ll go. I’ll be back soon.”
Shen Shuiyan intended to give Zou Yunfei a glimmer of hope, leaving him to wait there until he realized they’d already escaped, leaving him to wait for death in despair.
“I’ll go with you. Let’s finish him off right away.”
Xin Lan felt that a slap in the face was always more painful in person; instead of letting Zou Yunfei discover it on his own, it was better to make him recognize the reality sooner.
No sooner said than done. Xin Lan had the others wait for them at the bottom of the teaching building.
Qi Xiao opened her mouth to ask why, but Zhou Chun tugged her. She still didn’t say a word, and together with Xu Deng, obediently went to wait under the teaching building.
Zou Yunfei sat in his classroom, several new wounds on his face, and substantial injuries on his body, left behind by the fights during last night’s hunt.
Last night, though he hadn’t managed to kill those two, they hadn’t gotten any advantage either. For the latter half of the night, he had kept his door locked to give himself breathing room.
Someone called out to him softly at the door. Zou Yunfei looked over and found it was Shen Shuiyan.
Shen Shuiyan waved at him, her expression somewhat anxious.
Zou Yunfei quickly walked out, asking her what was wrong.
“Xin Lan collected a lot of fragments and found the way out.”
“What?” Zou Yunfei was shocked.
“I told her my stomach was killing me and I needed to use the restroom, then snuck over to tell you. I’ll take you out first now; we have to beat Xin Lan to it.”
“Okay!”
Zou Yunfei was incredibly touched, quickly responding and following behind Shen Shuiyan.
Walking to the stairs, however, they saw Xin Lan standing there with her arms crossed, wearing a half-smile.
Zou Yunfei froze, unable to stop himself from shivering.
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